Wednesday 12th September 2012,
at Forest Town Stadium, The Clod
Central Midlands League North
AFC Mansfield (3) 4
Carl Haslam 9, 39
Ricky Chambers 35
Dean Rick 47
Kiveton Park (0) 0
Admission £3, Programme £1.50, Attendance 175
Thanks to Peter Craggs for the team line up details
AFC Mansfield:Dale Sheppard, Danny McLane, Liam Pride, Matt Draper, Steve McGurk, Gary Armstrong, Joe Meehan, Ricky Chambers, Dean Rick, Carl Haslam, Mark Carter
Subs - Danny Naylor, Lee Bowler, Bradley Cox, Gavin Short, Ed Eley
Kiveton Park:
Jonathan Parker, Jonathan Gravelle, Jack Poad, Marcus Green, John Sainthouse, Daniel Harrison, Stephen McDonnell, Jon Barnes, Carl Longmore, Daniel McPherson, James Lawton
Sub - Zak Brooke
Hmm, after witnessing their sorry debacle and downfall tonight, I strongly suggest, that on the way back home to south Yorkshire, Kiveton Park drop in at the late night pharmacy and purchase a really big jar of chill pills.They finished the game with just nine players on the pitch tonight, they wouldn't have done if I was refereeing the game.
At a push, they might just about of still had eight.
People will see the result, hear about the two red cards and assume that AFC Mansfield took advantage of the fact the opposition ranks had been depleted.
But, the score was already four-nil before the red mists descended and several 'Kivo' players completely lost all sense of reason, common sense and responsibility.
They turned the second half into an embarrassing spectacle and let their club and themselves down badly.
Very badly.
Having recently seen the south Yorkshire side in action, I already knew that they were a hard hitting, physical side, who don't exactly shy out of tackles, but I watched them harness those 'attributes' to forge a late victory at Harworth earlier this month and, as a consequence, thought they might actually cause AFC Mansfield (a passing, attacking side), a few problems and provide the Bulls with more of a challenge than they've become accustomed to these past few weeks.But I was wrong.
In truth, 'Kivo' only caused one team any problems in the end ... themselves, when they hit the self destruct button.
You can only imagine that some of the decent people associated with the Hard Lane club were acutely embarrassed by the actions of a number of their players tonight.
Kiveton actually began the night in a very positive and attack minded frame of mind.
Right at the start of the game, Carl Longmore latched onto an under hit back-pass and shot over the bar from the edge of the box inside the first minute, when he looked odds on to score ... and they almost scrambled the ball home from close range following a deep cross into the mix from James Lawton.
But the home side survived the early threat Kiveton had posed and on 9 miutes, Carl Haslam latched onto a long clearance, danced around three defenders and opened the scoring for the night from six yards out.Joe Meehan came close to doubling the Mansfield side's lead a few minutes later, but Kiveton managed to clear the ball at the last moment.
The visitors went in search of an equaliser and when Dale Sheppard spilled a long free kick into his box, Carl Longmore was on hand to take advantage, but his thumping shot was more a danger to the ridge tiles on the dressing room roof than it was the back of the net.
Teams who visit 'The Clod' aren't going to get very many clear cut goal scoring chances, so when they do come along, they've got to make them count.
Kiveton, playing a rigid 4-4-2, condensed the play into the centre of the pitch for a while and contained the home side for a spell, while waiting patiently for another opening to come along.
It worked for a while ... if only briefly.
Dean Rick and Carl Haslam combined to create an opening for Mark Carter, but the Bulls number 11 narrowly missed the target.Haslam got a knock in the build up to Carter's effort, but after receiving treatment, he came back on and before half time he had effectively killed off the game.
James Lawton went one on one with Dale Sheppard, but the home side's keeper saved well.
Mickey Taylor's team breakaway at speed and get the ball forward quickly along the ground.
Soon after Sheppard's save, Carl Haslam was homing in on goal at the other end, he stroked an inch perfect pass across the six yard line and Ricky Chambers couldn't miss from there.
Thirty five minutes gone ... 2-0.
Within a minute Haslam was back again, but after drawing Jon Parker to the right of his goal, rolled the ball narrowly wide of the left upright.
And sure enough, Haslam was back again on 39 minutes, when he dribbled his way into the box and 'dinked' home his second and AFC Mansfield's third goal.
Kiveton would've been relieved to hear the half time whistle, because for five minutes or so, Carl Haslam had, quite literally, been unplayable and was running rings around the usually dependable visitors back line.
The second half was only a couple of minutes old, when Carl Haslam beat Jon Parker all ends up, but his shot came back off the post, where Dean Rick was on hand to score from the rebound.The home side were now on cruise control and my theory that Kiveton might cause them a few problems had well and truly been laid to rest.
Mark Carter almost scored again with a free header, but the 'Kivo' defence scrambled the ball away.
The visitors weren't only losing by an emphatic scoreline, they also began to lose their heads.
Danny McPherson, the Kiveton number 10 went in with a late, rash challenge right in front of the home dug out.
What is the point of carrying on like that, when your side has already lost the match and the remainder of the game is just going to be about damage limitation?
The referee brandished a yellow card.
But McPherson was unrepentant and within a minute, he'd flattened Gary Armstrong with what looked like a blatant use of the elbow.
To everybody's amazement, the referee didn't produce a red card and, in the meantime, McPherson's behaviour descended to shameful levels, when he charged up towards the referee in an aggressive manner, shouting abuse.
His team mates tried to restrain him, but one of them got punched by McPherson for trying to act as peacemaker.
McPherson was red carded, but refused to leave the pitch.
Kiveton's Jon Barnes had to physically take him off!
One of visiting side's officials finally got him to go from the technical area to the dressing rooms, with howls of derision echoing in his ears from the crowd who were looking on in disbelief.The visitors switched to a 4-4-1 formation for the final half hour.
Carl Haslam went through two half hearted challenges but was tripped from behind.
His free kick hit the visitors defensive wall, which had progressed forward to all of 5 yards from the ball.
Haslam was, once again, Kiveton's main tormentor, when his pace left their defence for dead, but Jon Parker came off his line and denied the Bulls striker his hat trick.
With two minutes to go, man of the match Haslam, skipped past the visitors left back Jack Poad, but had his progress halted by a crude challenge.
The referee sent Poad to join McPherson in the dressing room and Kiveton finished the game with just 9 players on the pitch.
Full time: AFC Mansfield 4 v Kiveton Park 0
